Jump to content
  TPR Home | Parks | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube | Instagram 

Disneyland Resort (DL, DLR, DCA) Discussion Thread

p. 393 - Pixar Place Hotel transformation will be completed on January 30th, 2024!

Recommended Posts

With all this talk of Disneyland's Space Mountain being closed, I wonder if it's time for Disney to get rid of it?

 

I can't tell if this is a joke or not. If it is, it's a terrible one, and if it isn't, it's something that Disney would never even consider. Space Mountain is a signature ride of Disneyland that has been one of the park's two or three most popular attractions since the original opened in 1977. Removing it would be like Cedar Point removing Millennium Force, Six Flags Magic Mountain removing X2, or Darien Lake removing Ride of Steel (although to be fair, it wouldn't be quite the same since Disneyland has more than one headliner).

 

Anyway, it's unfortunate that the resort has to have several E tickets down at once, but I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to get them back up and running as soon as possible. If Disney has known about these issues for months and has done nothing, then I can't give them any sympathy (and won't give them any money until the rides return to operation), but I do feel sorry for any visitors who were really looking forward to these rides and now can't ride them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

People should just come to Florida and ride the better Space Mountain!

 

I've never understood the appeal of MK's Space Mountain. i've always found it to be a rickety wild mouse indoors. From what I've seen on youTube DL's Space Mountain looks to have more of the dips of the classic wood coasters with some pretty cool projections and an amazing Michael Giacchino soundtrack.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Have you not ridden it recently? It hasn't had a rehab since it reopened.

 

I've ridden it as recently as Friday, I thought it's been riding great, nice and fast. Lots of fun, that's for sure.

 

So it seems like this is a "maintenance access" issue and not a structure or ride safety issue.

 

From the information provided, it sounds like they want all inspection catwalks above 30 inches to have rails along them. I can't really verify if its always been this way, or if its enforced at other parks as well. I can only think of one inspection catwalk at Magic Mountain that doesn't have rails along it. And if it is a rule, it's odd that they wouldn't have added them during Space Mountains newest track installation.

 

Anyway, unfortunately, I'm sure the news will make a bigger story of this than it really is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Your post is complete nonsense. Florida's Space Mountain is FAR from a "rickety wild mouse".

 

After watching both DL and MK's Space Mountains, they are both based on the wild mouse design of flat turns. Going on it pre rehab it seemed was pretty rickety and unappealing. I'll give it a try next time I go to the MK even though it is Giacchino-less

Link to comment
Share on other sites

People should just come to Florida and ride the better Space Mountain!

 

I've never understood the appeal of MK's Space Mountain. i've always found it to be a rickety wild mouse indoors. From what I've seen on youTube DL's Space Mountain looks to have more of the dips of the classic wood coasters with some pretty cool projections and an amazing Michael Giacchino soundtrack.

 

Florida's Space Mountain is by far the more intense version. It is definitely rougher, but also offers tons of real airtime to go with it!

 

Back on topic: these violations just seem like an oversight on someones part. They probably just assumed what they had in place was adequate, as nothing had happened prior to the Space Mountain incident and on the surface it seemed safe (if they guy had never fell, no one would ever know they were tied off onto something that turned out to be unsafe).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

After reading the attached PDF, it seems as though all of the issues are behind-the-scenes and have nothing to do with the stuff that the guests experience like the condition of the track, support structure, and trains. I'm not quite sure why Disneyland has neglected to do stuff like build railings on their catwalks.

 

Also, the Space Mountain at Magic Kingdom is not terrible. It's a...BLAST! [rimshot]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^Totally agree. A "rickety wild mouse" is just plain insulting for a great ride that IMO is quite smooth, my favorite ride at MK.

 

I think the Matterhorn is a more apt comparison (only with more comfortable trains and airtime). The ambient sound they've added to MK's space Mountain is a definite plus, and I've come around to preferring it slightly to DL's version (they both have their good points).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disneyland's website lists Space Mountain in the "Closed For Refurbishment" section of their calendar through at least the first week of May. Soarin' is currently not on that list, but is still clsoed as far as I know. Apparently, Matterhorn was slated to be down this week and next for refurb, but as of now, they are leaving it open to compensate for Space Mountain being down, along with Big Thunder which is closed through October or so.

 

Going in two weeks, I am mildly disappointed, but since DCA is new to me and I am a huge fan of DL's dark rides, I think I will survive without Space Mountain and Soarin' being open.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Disneyland's website lists Space Mountain in the "Closed For Refurbishment" section of their calendar through at least the first week of May. Soarin' is currently not on that list, but is still clsoed as far as I know. Apparently, Matterhorn was slated to be down this week and next for refurb, but as of now, they are leaving it open to compensate for Space Mountain being down, along with Big Thunder which is closed through October or so.

 

Going in two weeks, I am mildly disappointed, but since DCA is new to me and I am a huge fan of DL's dark rides, I think I will survive without Space Mountain and Soarin' being open.

 

Soarin' is now listed as closed until May 28 (last day of the calendar currently available) along with Space Mountain. I'm hoping they are just covering themselves and will have the rides open earlier than this, from a park operations perspective I doubt it's ideal to have three headliners down at the same time.

 

I'm heading there in just over two weeks, personally I don't mind giving Soarin' a miss but my brother hasn't been to Disneyland before so it'd be a shame if he doesn't get to ride it that or Space Mountain at least once.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe it'll take a while because they have to install fall protection to install fall protection. I would have thought they would have done a thorough check of all the rides after having to do work on Alice. I know the current ones are in employee areas, but it's somewhat similar.

Edited by jray21
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I imagine the date for reopening is not known yet so they are being cautious and listing it closed through May at this point. I'm sure they have to review safety procedures, write new ones and fix what ever problems there are. Once they know the scope they will probably be able to set a date to re-open. Better to let people know that are planning a trip that it might be closed then have them think it will be open and it is not when the show up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The saga continues. Soarin'/Space now listed as 'pending' closures until April 24.

 

Disclaimer: I don't usually spend my days reviewing the DLR refurb schedule, only when a trip is imminent!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Why does everyone always assume Disney is a perfect company, and are always shocked when things like this happened? They killed someone on Big Thunder due to shoddy maintenance.

 

Disney is a typical penny pinching company. It's very hard to catch all safety issues in your facility. Even companies with the absolute best intentions have things happen that they never thought would.

 

Fall protection rules have changed dramatically in recent years. It's damn near to the point that if someone uses more than a step ladder, they need fall protection. With all the catwalks and such that rides have, I'm surprised so few rides were effected, honestly

 

And the "nothing has ever happened" belief is the worst possible way to do business. The Bhopal incident had never happened, until it did. Unsafe conditions present the possibility of injury. However, luck, and shear chance can let dangerous situations exist for a long time. However, sooner or later, the inury will occur.

 

As an example, most likely the cause of the explosion yesterday in Waco has existed for many years, but the perfect storm finally happened.

 

And if people think OSHA inspects all worksites, and catches everything, they are laughably out of touch. I've been involved in many OSHA audits, and they are all cursory at best. OSHA is mostly a reactive group. Likely, someone at Disney filed a complaint, which led to the inspection, which led to this. And I'd bet damn near anything all the rides weren't inspected.

 

-R

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

Terms of Use https://themeparkreview.com/forum/topic/116-terms-of-service-please-read/